The present invention relates to surgical staplers. A number of such instruments and the basic principals of their design were developed after World War II at the Institute for Experimental Surgical Apparatus and Instruments in Moscow. Subsequently, a good number of particular stapler instruments and surgical techniques for their use in joining particular tissues or performing particular operations have been developed in this country and elsewhere.
Among the commercially developed instruments and accessories now available are such items as pre-loaded staple cartridges in various lengths containing one or two linear rows of staples; disposable and pre-loaded linear staple guns; special cylindrical staplers which are inserted along the interior of the lower intestine for placing a ring of staples for end-to-end anastomosis; and Inokuchi's vascular stapler, which uses pairs of fitted half-bushings and a special staple driver to perform anastomosis of blood vessels.
While stapling has been demonstrated in many surgical contexts to provide better perfusion and enhanced healing of tissue with fewer complications, as compared to conventional manual suturing, there remain a number of particular surgical procedures for which no suitable stapling instrument or technique exists.
Among such procedures are those involving anastomosis bypass and repair of medium to large arteries and veins. Presently, substantially all anastomoses on vessels are done manually. The procedure is time-consuming and requires dexterity and specialized skills; often cross-clamping or bypass are required to carry out the anastomosis. Development of an effective stapler and procedures for its use on medium to large blood vessels may significantly speed up these procedures and reduce morbidity. If such a stapler and procedures for its use can be modified to also work on smaller vessels, further efficiencies of practice may be expected.